


Merry Holiday Season with Peter Parker

by Bowtiez



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Special, Common Cold, Cute Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Cute Peter Parker, Cutesy, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Light Angst, Minor Injuries, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings, Peter Parker Has a Family, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter Parker-centric, Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-01-24 12:33:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21338311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bowtiez/pseuds/Bowtiez
Summary: Join Peter Parker through some of his favorite holiday events leading up to the big day with his new family! Spending time with his new mom, dad, and his adorable baby sister! Fluff, fluff and more fluff (and some adorable angst because I’m me!)Or,A whole bunch of cute Christmas/ winter season mini fics I've written and compiled together in the holiday spirit! Keep an eye out for update!
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 18
Kudos: 146





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, welcome! I had a whole bunch of cute Christmas-y ideas for Iron!Dad and Spider!Son, so, I thought, instead of making a bunch of random little drabbles, I'd compact them all into one spot. 
> 
> The timeline doesn't exist in this fic. Tony is Iron Man but Peter's not Spider-Man yet. Morgan exists. Pepper and Tony are married. Peter has no living relatives. And all the Avengers are friends (though I'm not yet sure if I will be adding them). 
> 
> I will be posting multiple days leading up to Christmas (and probably one for New Years). It's not all Christmas, there will be a variety of events from Christmas activities, to snow activities, to even some lowkey angst (smol sickfic, maybe a minor injury). This will be very fluffy, you've been warned!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of an introduction to the characters and the whole they love in. Not too different from canon, but some changes. Background about the Stark family and How Peter stumbled upon them mostly. 
> 
> Each chapter will be upwards of 1,000 words (heavily upwards on some).

Christmas. 

Christmas was arguably Peter Parker’s favorite holiday. He liked Halloween, but... _Christmas_. 

The holiday was special to the fourteen-year-old. It always had been, and it probably always would be. Having been orphaned at a young age, he’d held tightly to the memories he had of his biological parents and uncle at Christmas. Everything was loud and fun; people were happy and smiles were bright. Everyone would get along, and feuds would be set aside, solely for a spirit of Christmas. 

His parents held him close, nuzzling their noses into his dark curls as he fell asleep on them, party around him in full swing. The season of Christmas was always soft, close and intimate, both his busy scientist parents and uncle Ben, all taking the time off work to be a family. He loved this. The closeness and the cuddles. Just being together, without a paper, or a call from work dragging them away. 

And then, of course, there was the idea of Santa. He who would swoop down the chimney and leave gifts and toys for those who had been good children all year. The man in red would come Christmas Eve, hours after Peter had finally blinked his tired eyes closed, cuddled into his mother's or his father's arms. Then, he'd wake the next morning, drag everyone else out of bed and he’d tear into the presents left under the tree for him on Christmas morning. Smiling and cheering as he showed those around him what exciting new toy he'd received for being a good boy all year. 

He liked the closeness of it, and how everyone seemed to get along, even those unlikely to, like his uncle Ben, and his mom's friend Karen, who never really saw eye to eye and were always bickering back and forth. 

He supposed it should make him sad, being alone on the holiday- and maybe it did, a bit- or maybe he should dislike the holiday, since he’d lost those he shared the memories with, but he really couldn’t find it in himself to do that. The memories were happy and made him happy, and he knew he couldn't look at them in a sad light, or they'd lose the brightness he craved and associated with Christmas. The memories that kept his Christmas spirit alive, despite his hardships. 

Plus, it was an overall happy holiday. People here happy, places decorated beautifully, trees erected in random places and everything was just full of cheerfulness and character, unlike any other time of year. Random acts of kindness at their fullest, shelters open, and food banks donating to those in need just a bit more. Everything just a bit more compassionate then November or January. 

But now, he has a new family to spend it with. 

His first year with an actual family. He was being fostered by Mister and Mrs Stark. 

Peter had first met Mister Stark when he was twelve years old. His middle school had hosted a science fair and as it so happened, Mister Stark had been bullied into judging by Pepper, his wife and the CEO of his company, Stark Industries. 

Peter had been thrilled as he showed off the miniature Arc Reactor he’d spent a great deal of time during and after school working on, to the inventor of the real thing. There wasn’t much to go off since no one but Tony Stark knew what went into it, and he knew he wasn’t close to the real thing, but he’d just been so interested in it. 

And, to his surprise, Tony Stark had taken an interest in his project; asking questions and talking about the real thing (to which Peter listened enthusiastically). He hadn’t won first place, sadly, but he did win second. 

Plus, Tony had rolled his eyes, muttering about how dumb it was that a baking soda and vinegar volcano could beat a mini arc reactor as he patted Peter on his shoulder. Peter had to say he agreed, not that the volcano wasn't cool, because it kind of was. 

Despite it all, he was pretty syced about that outcome. 

After that though, Peter didn’t really hear much else from the billionaire. Not that he expected to either. That is, until his last year of middle school. 

Since Peter's middle school was a high end STEM school, building a path to bigger and better things like Midtown School of Science and Technology (Peter had already been accepted) and M.I.T, the students were always offered things that could be useful in life, or their career path. 

Every year, Peter's school would set up a program for over the summer, deliberating with each major technology company in New York; Stark Industries, Hammer Technology and Oscorp. This was a sort of way to keep the kids engaged in important things and be bettering them for the future at the same time. Any student that was interested in their last year of middle school could take a test to see if they had what it took to maybe start interning at one of the companies, who were always looking for help over the summer with little mundane tasks around the building. 

Of course, the companies had full control over how many students they took, the hours the students were there, who the kids would be working with and, of course, the ability to fire students who weren't up to their standards. After the students took the tests and wrote the accompanying essay, Oscorp, Hammer Tech and Stark Industries all went through the tests and papers, selecting a few kids to intern for them. 

Everyone knew it was super had getting in though. You had to really present yourself in the essay and test, since the high-end companies only took those who were hard working, and would improve work at the incorporation. Nothing was set and stone, since they could can you just as fast as they hired you, if you don't take it seriously. 

Peter had taken the test, and written the accompanying essay (which he wasn't good at; English was his least favorite subject); handing it in to the teacher and awaiting the results. He had a dream of getting into Stark Industries, but he’d settle for any internship, if he were completely honest. Any would be a huge privilege to attend. But, there was also the fact that kids from schools like his all across New York were also fighting for the same thing, so the chances here low, considering each company only took two or three students. 

To his utter surprise, his teacher informed him that he’d gotten into the Stark Industries internship program. Peter had almost fainted. It was literally the greatest thing ever. He's always wanted to just see what the place was like, and now he'd get to intern there! The only minor flaw was that he had to get himself to and from the internship, since his foster family didn't have the time to be driving him around. He was willing to do it, a two hour public transit ride both ways was well worth it. So, everything worked out just fine for the teen. 

Peter had actually been really surprised he’d made the cut. Him and two other students (though only one was from his school). The only three accepted into Stark Industries, which was the best of all the options. 

Now, though, he’d known Tony Stark for just over two years, interning for him. Peter had managed to get to keep his internship through the start of the new school year at his new high school: Midtown School of Science and Technology. He knew the billionaire (who he may have been personal interning for now) had some say in this. No one else usually got past working for the summer, but Peter had taken it in stride. 

It hadn’t taken much persuading through the guidance counselor, and the principal had been easily on board. After all, this was essentially a way to start teaching Peter how a real job worked, and gave him good credit on his resumes and future college applications. Peter was learning a lot, and no one could deny he'd done pretty well, managing to become Tony's personal intern over just two short months. Plus, it also looked really good on Midtown to have one of their young students interning at a place like Stark Industries. 

So, his afternoon classes on Monday and Wednesday were swapped out for the internship. But he still got all the credits he’d need, and his morning was filled with the essential hard classes. That was all the school could do for him, but that didn't stop Peter from going down after school some days, or heading over on the weekends to work with Tony Stark. 

The boy wasn’t actually sure how anything progressed past his internship; how he'd moved so quickly to becoming Tony's personal intern. But Peter was thrilled. 

He’d met Mrs Stark a couple weeks after starting that summer, and then she introduced him to Tony Stark again. She seemed to like him, and he was always doing anything he could to help her out. Running to get papers, delivering papers to people on different floors, going to the photocopier for her. 

Peter had been floored, when meeting the billionaire again, that the man had remembered him- called him Pete and clapped him on the shoulder as he asked if he'd made any progress on his arc reactor prototype. It was a dream come true. He met Iron Man, twice. Iron Man knew his name. Ned almost cried when Peter had barreled into him the following morning at Ned's door, gushing about it all. They'd both always looked up to Tony, because who wouldn't? The man was super cool, and a literal genius. 

Peter hadn’t known he’d been doing anything worthy of Tony Stark’s attention, but Pepper Stark seemed to think differently. So, from there, Peter got lab time with Tony Stark. Get to go in Tony Stark's lab and see the Iron Man suits up close and personal. Amazing. 

They, of course, didn’t really know of his home situation. And they didn’t find out for a while. 

Just last year, when Peter had stayed later at Stark Industries then he should have. Tony Stark had asked him if he needed a ride home, and Peter had graciously accepted, under the pretense that he wasn’t being a bother to the billionaire. 

They’d gotten to talking, Tony asking about his parents, and who’d raised such an intelligent boy, and Peter getting all quiet and finally admitting to being an orphan. 

He relayed the sob story the next time the man dropped him off. Explaining the plane crash and having no other living relatives. Uncle Ben had died the year before their crash in a work accident, and he had been the only relative Peter had ever seen. And if there were others, they hadn't wanted him, which had him dropped into the foster system. 

Peter had been pretty lucky when it came to foster families. He'd heard some serious horror stories from other foster kids, and he was thankful he seemed to get the good ones. The only reason he'd been in a couple different families, was mostly just from him switching around to be able to go to schools like Midtown. 

But the sharing, quiet moments in the car after Peter had confessed to the billionaire had been a bonding moment, and from that point on the billionaire kept a closer eye on him, and it made Peter happy. That someone like Tony would be watching out for someone like himself. 

And then from there, Tony was always driving him home, or Pepper was. He’d met Morgan, their one-year-old daughter, and absolutely adored her. She as so cute, and was a perfect mix of her parents and she was almost like the sibling he'd never gotten. He loved holding her, and cooing at her, and even loved the wet slobbery kisses she smacked on his cheek when she was in his arms. 

Before Peter knew it, Tony and Pepper were asking him if he wanted them to be his foster parents, and that was approved because; duh, it was Tony and Pepper Stark. And they’d asked for him specifically, which had been even more shocking. He was all about kids finding ideal foster families, but he never really thought about it for himself. They were ideal foster parent material, and Tony Stark was a powerful man, and it was weird they wanted _him_. There wasn’t anywhere Peter would be safer, theoretically. 

Plus, the internship, which often went later into the night, would be easier since the billionaire could just bring the teen home with him. And Avenger’s tower, where the family lived most of the time was close to Peter’s school, closer than his previous foster. 

And, he himself had grown to love their family. Morgan was this cute little sister he never got the chance of having, Pepper a mother who looked at him the same way she looked at her daughter, and Tony Stark himself had practically adopted Peter from their first meeting at the science fair. 

It was amazing, and terrifying, but heartwarming all the same. They’d accepted him into their small family without a question, and now Peter had the one thing he’d always wished for; a new family. 

It was his first Christmas with a real family. A mom, a dad and a little sister. He was excited to be sharing things he remembered and loved from Christmas with his own biological family. And he really couldn’t wait to do all the traditions he’d never gotten a chance to do. 

A real Christmas with a real family! 

He couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments appreciated <3


	2. First Snowfall

It was a chilly Saturday night when the first flurries of snow were seen fluttering out of the clouded New York sky. 

Late Sunday morning, Peter woke up, groggy as usual, only to glance out his window and sober almost immediately. A grin spread across his face as he pushed his hand on the glass and leaned out to gaze at the ground. 

On the ground, was a decent blanket of snow covered every surface. New York didn’t usually get a lot of a snow, especially with the first snowfall, but there was definitely enough to make a snowman, which was one of the best snow activities out there. 

Peter jumped from his bed, abandoning his pajamas in the process and hurriedly changing into clothes. Finally, when he was dressed in a pair of sweats and a hoodie (and two pairs of socks because his feet were always cold) he flew out of his bedroom. 

When Peter bounced into the living room, he saw Morgan sat on the couch watching some kid’s show he was too excited to remember. 

“Momo, did you see outside?” the toddler gave Peter a confused glance, slipping off the couch and toddling towards him. Peter scooped the baby up, holding her close as he carried her to the wide window, pointing outside and grinning at her, “look, Momo, it snowed last night!” 

“Sno’,” Morgan tilted her head in confusion at him. Peter assumed Morgan had never played in the snow, or at least that she would remember. 

“Mhm!” Peter grinned. “After breakfast you ‘n me can go play in the snow, how’s that sound?” 

“Sno’ ‘etey! Sno’,” Morgan squealed, grabbing fistfuls of Peter’s hoodie as he carried her into the kitchen. Both Pepper and Tony were there. Tony at the table playing on his phone and Pepper stood at the stove. 

The woman was dressed in the clothes she wore to work, so Peter knew she had a meeting today. 

Tony, however, was in a lab shirt and a pair of jeans. 

“Well, good morning, sleeping beauty,” Tony snorted a laugh, grinning at the teenaged boy. “We thought you were going to be asleep all day.” 

“It’s only nine AM,” Peter snorted. “Did you guys see the snow?” 

“Yes,” Tony tilted his head, “you mean the same snow we got last year, and the year before that and so on?” 

“Why do you sound so upset about it?” Peter frowned lightly, “Momo and I are excited, right, Mo?” 

“Sno’ ‘addy!” Morgan beamed, reaching for Tony. The man took her into his arms, cuddling her before looking up at the teenager who sat opposite from him. 

“Why don’t you sound upset?” 

“What do you mean? Snow’s awesome! Building snowmen, and making snow angels- or, snowball fights! Sledding... C’mon, Tony, don’t tell me you’ve lived under a rock all your life?” 

“I think I should be offended?” Tony looked over at Pepper, who snorted a laugh as she flipped a pancake. “I’m sorry, kid, but snow loses its excitement after you have to start shoveling it.” 

“Like you’ve ever shoveled now,” Pepper teased. 

“You know what? That was rude.” Tony pouted theatrically, getting Morgan to burst into giggles, wiggling happily in the man’s lap. 

“We can play in the snow, right, Pepper?” Peter glanced at the woman setting a plate of fluffy pancakes in front of him as Tony put Morgan in her high chair. 

“I don’t see why not,” Pepper shrugged, “as long as everyone is dressed appropriately. And I mean all of it, Peter Benjamin. Scarves, hats, mittens- and Morgan needs to be in the snowsuit in the closet. You know the one, Tony.” 

“Hey, why do I have to go?” the billionaire pouted as he stole a piece of ripped up pancake from Morgan’s plate. 

“It’ll be fun!” Peter grinned, shoving a forkful of syrupy pancake into his mouth, “I’m going to teach Morgan how to make a snow angel! Then we can build a snowman!” 

“And where’s this happening?” Tony questioned, now sitting down with his own plateful of pancakes. Pepper sat beside Peter with her own as well. 

“In the back,” Peter huffed with a roll of his eyes, the unsaid _‘duh’_ being expressed solely by his tone. “There’s a whole parking lot, and those patches of grass- which are perfect for snow angels. No one comes to the tower on weekends anyways.” 

“Ugh,” Tony groaned, “okay, fine. We can all go play in the snow after breakfast.” 

“Yes!” 

\---- 

It was after Pepper left for work, worrying over everyone and their snow clothes. Peter almost scowled as she piled a stack of clothes he had to wear if they were going in the snow- but he couldn’t complain, not when Pepper was making Morgan wear a poofy snowsuit that made her look more like a marshmallow than a baby. 

She’d even assigned Tony clothes to wear. Plus, the poor guy got all the rules and reminders to keep track of. 

It had taken almost a half an hour to get everyone suited up. Morgan, was apparently not a fan of the snowsuit, which Peter couldn’t help but agree. Not that she wasn’t adorable in it, but he’d be pretty salty in one too. 

Tony carried Morgan down, and Peter vibrated where he stood in excitement. 

He loved the snow. From watching it late in the evenings as it fluttered gracefully down, to packing it into snowballs to either launch at things or roll into snowmen. 

Peter pushed the doors open first, running out onto the snow-covered asphalt. The snow clung to the bottoms of his boots, as he hurried out. 

“Look at this Momo,” Peter grinned, reaching down to grab a handful of snow. It was the perfect consistency for a snowman. Tony set Morgan down, and she slowly toddled towards Peter, who held the snowball he’d packed tightly to her. 

Peter grinned at Tony as he leaned down to whisper to Morgan. In the next second, the toddler chucked the snowball at the billionaire. The ball exploded when he hit Tony’s jeans clad shin. The billionaire scowled at the teenager just after the snowball made contact with him. 

“Good shot!” Peter gave Tony a happy smile as he scooped Morgan into his arms. “Morgan’s gonna be a baseball player, I call it. How can she not, with an arm like that!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony huffed as he reached down to collect a handful of snow. He balled it up, but instead of throwing it at Peter, chucked it at a no parking sign screwed to the side of the tower. Morgan squealed, clapping her hands, and Peter had to admit it was a pretty perfect shot. 

“Let’s make snow angels!” Peter grinned at Tony, setting Morgan down again and leading her to one of the few grassy spots in the parking lot. Peter sat down in the snow, ignoring how the snow soaked into his sweat pants. “Watch, Mo.” 

Morgan stared intently as Peter laid down all the way, flapping his arms along the ground and opening and closing his legs. He did it a couple times before standing up and dusting his hat and butt off. Morgan pointed to the imprint, jumping excitedly and dropping to a sit beside Peter’s snow angel. 

“You got it, Morgan!” Peter cheered, leaning over to help the toddler make the imprint in the snow. She didn’t have the best control over her limbs even when she wasn’t constricted by a snowsuit. 

"Did it, ‘etey!” Morgan grinned after Peter had picked her up out of her snow angel. Her attention was locked on her snow angel, pointing down at it just in case anyone hadn’t seen it. “’addy turn now!” 

“Oh, nono, Daddy doesn’t want to. Sorry, little miss.” Tony gave Morgan a smile. Peter knew before they started that the billionaire wasn’t going to participate in snow angels. A small part of Peter wished he hadn’t either- or that he’d listened to Pepper and worn the ski pants she wanted him to wear. His pants were uncomfortably cold and wet now, but he’d power through. 

“How’s about we make a snowman now?” 

“Sno’ ‘addy!” Morgan cheered, smiling open mouthed back at Tony, who looked torn between being offended and complimented. 

“Sure, let’s make a snow daddy. Wanna help, Tony?” Peter tilted his head, knowing Tony couldn’t say no to both of them. 

“Yeah, let’s make a snow daddy then.” The man sighed, flashing Peter a pained expression, but giving Morgan a bright smile. 

The trio set to work. Morgan, not quite grasping the concept of packing a snowball but not over squeezing it so the snow crumbled to the ground, was in charge of pushing the snowballs Tony and Peter formed around to gather more snow and grow. 

When they’d get too big for her, Peter would help, and then, when it started getting too heavy for him as well, he had Tony help too. The bottom part of the snowman was already taller than Morgan was, which made Peter laugh. 

The middle of the snowman was the hardest part of the snowman. They repeated the process from earlier, but this time, when it was formed, they had to get it on top of the bottom of the snowman. They’d made the bottom a smidge too big, so if they wanted a stable snowman, the middle piece needed to be pretty big as well. 

It took all of Peter and Tony’s man power to get the stupid thing up. Peter was sweating when then finally managed to get it up there and packed around it with more snow. 

The head was Peter’s favorite part to build. He and Morgan rolled it together, but this time, he could get it up on the torso of the snowman without Tony’s help. 

“We need sticks,” Peter informed, glancing at Morgan, “snow daddy needs arms, do you think you can find him some?” 

Morgan gave a determined nod, grabbing a fistful of the bottom of Tony’s jacket and dragging him towards one of the couple trees standing around in the grassy parts of the parking lots. 

While they did that, Peter packed more snow around where the differed parts of the snowman met. He wanted him to be sturdy. 

When Morgan and Tony returned, two nice sticks with little branches on one end to resemble fingers, Tony helped Morgan stick them in the sides middle section of the snowman. 

“Now we just need a face,” Peter tilted his head at the faceless snowman head, as it sparkled in the soft sunlight. 

“I’ve got it,” Tony called, stripping off his glove and digging around in his coat pocket. When he retracted his hand, in his palm was a collection of bolts and one baby carrot. 

“You remembered the carrot!” Peter cheered, cupping his hand as Tony dumped his palmful into Peter’s outstretched hand. He’d completely forgotten about the traditional carrot nose of a snowman. 

“Of course I did,” Tony snorted as he gathered Morgan into his arms to be at their height. 

Peter stuck each of the bolts into the snow, making a smile and giving it eyes. 

“Whatcha think, Morgan, wanna give snow daddy his nose?” Morgan grinned, stealing the carrot from Peters fingers and jamming it right in the middle of the snowman’s head, just below its bolt eyes. 

“And he’s done!” Peter beamed, “good job, Morgan!” 

“’addy, sno’ addy needsa hat,” Morgan tugged on the edge of Tony’s snow hat. 

Peter covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing as Tony stared at the toddler perched on his hip. With a groan, Tony passed Morgan to Peter, stripping his hat and scarf and putting both on the snowman. 

“Sno’ ‘addy!” Morgan grinned, reaching to be transferred back to Tony. 

“Yeah, Mo, Daddy gave snow daddy his hat so he’ll be warm.” Peter smiled. He looked back at the snowman, feeling oddly prouder than he probably should at fourteen-years-old. The snowman was cute, and totally the best he’d ever built in all his years of snow playing. And it was even better because the snowman was made with two of his favorite people. 

“Mhm,” Tony sighed, giving them both a small smile, “and speaking of, everyone’s cheeks are red, and someone’s pants are completely soaked. Let’s head in before Mommy finds out and tries to kill Daddy for the babies getting sick.” 

“I’m not cold,” Peter tried. He deflated with one pointed look from the billionaire, “okay, _maybe_ a bit. They’re a tiny bit wet.” 

Tony snorted, rolling his eyes at the teenager, “let’s go. My ears are getting cold.” 

“Alright, fine,” Peter laughed. “Thanks for playing with us.” 

“Anytime, Kiddo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments appreciated <3


	3. Christmas Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are Christmas cards still a thing? Who knows. We never really sent any so I don't know. I thought this would be cute, so, y'know.
> 
> Enjoy~

Peter had always liked Christmas cards. Sending out a Christmas card to update friends and family about the past year. The ups and downs of it all. Accomplishments of family members and anything else people wanted to tell their friends and family. 

Peter himself had never really been in a Christmas card, and he never really received one- unless you counted Ned passing him one at school. His foster families did though. And he remembers them sending out stacks of envelopes, packed full with letters and greetings, and maybe even a picture or two. Telling everyone on the mailing list of how the kids had grown, and how Grandma was doing just fine. 

Peter knew that Christmas cards weren’t as popular these days, as with emails and the internet at people’s disposal, but he still liked the thought. It seemed more personal than just shooting a text or typing out an email to wish someone a happy holiday. 

He hadn’t known that Tony and Pepper were one of those select few who still sent out a Christmas card. 

Peter thought nothing of Tony and Pepper wanting a family photo, decked in fancy clothes. Peter basically just told about it, handed a stack of clothes to put on and in the next half hour he was sat with the family of three in the living room while a man with very expensive looking camera stared back at them. 

Peter didn’t really care about how rushed it was, since he was typically game for anything when it came to participating in anything family wise, so long as the Stark family wanted him too. 

Standing around everyone, Peter noticed the similar theme of clothing. Morgan was in a red and green plaid dress. A ribbon was tied around the waist, bow black and perfect around her; tying the outfit together. She had cute little black shoes and white frilly lined socks. Pepper put her hair up in pigtails, and she was just the cutest thing Peter had ever seen. 

Pepper herself was in a nice red dress, highlighting her figure perfectly. She wore black heels, similar to what Morgan was wearing on her feet, but of course with the heel Morgan’s lacked. Pepper’s hair was down; which Peter didn’t see often. She could really pull anything off, Peter thought, Pepper was really pretty. 

Peter found out that he and Tony were literally wearing the same thing. Peter flushed at that, because he couldn’t imagine the billionaire wanting to match. But apparently it had been Tony’s idea. 

They were in white dress shirts, dark jeans, and black blazers. Then, there was the matching ties, bright red and corresponding to the ruby red in both the girl's dresses. 

The photography session had gone by in a flash. 

Pepper and Tony posed Peter and Morgan together. The photographer moved everyone around to his liking and the camera flashed too many times for Peter to count. They couldn’t have been there for longer than twenty minutes. 

Things only seemed to slow down when Morgan started to get fussy. 

No one really told Peter what they were posing for, or why, but he assumed it was for a magazine or something. Something to promote Stark Industries. An article of the adorable Stark family, and foster kid Peter Parker. 

After all, it wasn’t that weird for Peter to be a part of it, considering he was still practically Tony’s personal assistant, and now they were fostering him. His name was a known a bit. 

Peter didn’t remember much, as camera flashes blinded him and he tried to remember to smile. Mostly Morgan being passed around like a doll, propped up in someone’s lap or settled on someone’s hip as everyone moved around for different poses. Peter faintly remembered, Tony’s arm over his shoulders, and Pepper wrapping her arms around him and putting her cheek beside his from behind him as instructed by the photographer. 

The pose Peter remembered best from the session was probably him sitting in the wooden chair the photography had brought with him as a prop, and Peter was cuddling Morgan while Tony and Pepper stood behind them. 

It had been a great deal of fun, but Peter still didn’t know what prompted the photo-shoot in the living room. 

So, he incredibly was surprised when he walked into the living room one afternoon to see Tony and Pepper settled at the kitchen table; stacks of cards and envelops piled around. Tony scowled as he licked the glue residue on the envelope in his hand. Pepper’s hand moved in a steady pattern as she signed her name, as well as a small heart. 

“What’re you guys doing?” Peter stepped closer, looking over Pepper’s shoulder at what she was writing. 

“We’re sending off Christmas cards,” Tony sighed, “the worst time of the year.” 

“Hush,” Pepper rolled her eyes. “We’ve sent cards out since Tony and I got married. Everyone’s always curious about what we get up to- or, what Tony gets up to. 

“No way!” Peter grinned, “can I help?” 

“You actually _want_ to help?” Tony paused, tip of his tongue stuck out, and a grimace on his face as he held an envelope in front of his tongue. 

“I love Christmas cards,” Peter admitted, slipping into the chair beside Pepper. She’s patted it while Tony was being dramatic. “One of my foster families always loved to send out Christmas cards, and I always thought it was cool.” 

“They’re cute,” Pepper agreed, “Tony’s just mad he’s stuck in here helping me.” 

“I’m on licking duty, can you really blame me? Do you know how awful that glue tastes after the _fiftieth_ envelope?” 

“No,” Pepper shrugged with a playful smile, “because you’re on licking duty. I have the nicer handwriting.” 

“Maybe Peter should be on licking duty,” Tony scrunched his face up, “whaddya think, Petey?” 

“Um, no thank you...” Peter gave him a grin. He looked back to Pepper, “who do you guys send them too?” 

“Distant relatives, mostly,” Pepper explained, “my great aunts and uncles, a few of my cousins. Tony’s couple of times removed cousins...” 

“Rhodey, Rhodey’s mom, Hap, Steve and all the Avengers. So, pretty much the whole universe.” The billionaire groaned. 

Peter laughed at Tony’s antics and the billionaire pouted, dragging his tongue along another envelope. 

“Is there anyone you want to send one too, honey?” Pepper turned a curious eyebrow to Peter. The boy froze, looking over at them. He was allowed to send one? He’d never done that before. 

“I can... I can send one?” 

“Of course, you can, sweetie,” Pepper leaned over to cup Peter’s cheek and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. 

“You can send as many as you want,” Tony promised, raising an eyebrow of his own at Peter’s shock. 

“Can I send one to Ned?” Peter asked slowly as he bit his bottom lip. 

“Sure.” Tony agreed. 

“And MJ?” 

“Of course.” 

Peter felt giddy as he watched on. Pepper handed him two Christmas cards. Peter gaped when he caught sight of the cover of the cards. It was a picture. A family photo, actually. 

They looked... like an actual family. It looked completely natural. Peter blinked a couple times at it. 

The photo that was on the cover was the photo of Peter sitting on the chair holding and cuddling into Morgan. He believed he was mid-cooing at her when the picture was snapped. Behind them, Tony and Pepper were stood hip to hip directly behind the chair, one of each of their hands set on the back of the chair Peter was sat in. 

They looked down at Peter and Morgan with nothing but love, eyes bright and smiles small, but possible the realist Peter had ever seen. 

Off to the corner of the card was a bright red ‘Merry Christmas’ printed in a swirly cursive font. 

“I’m in this,” Peter stated stupidly. 

“Yeah,” Tony tilted his head, setting a recently licked envelope down in his pile of ‘licked’, “why wouldn’t you be?” 

_Why wouldn’t he be?_ What a good question. “I... I uh, I don’t know. Just, a bit surprised I guess.” Because he’s never been _in_ someone Christmas card. Mentions, possibly, but never front and center on the actual card. Peter didn’t even know people still printed their own cards. 

But they were billionaires, he supposed. 

Peter took a second to watch as Pepper drew another card from the stack, flipping it open and writing a couple paragraphs of updates, then signing it from the Starks. He watched as she picked up a small picture, smiling at it, then placing it in the card and putting the card in an envelope (then handing it to Tony). 

The picture was another of he and Morgan. Just the two of them. Peter didn't even remember the picture being taken. He was simply smiling down at Morgan who was giggling at the photographer. Morgan stared directly at the camera, which was impressive for a two-year-old and Peter was at a perfect angle to see most of his face, even with his gaze elsewhere. 

“Everyone wants pictures of the kids,” Pepper explained when she caught Peter staring at the photo being added to every card. 

“Yeah,” Tony agreed, “they always grow like weeds through the year.” 

Peter flushed at the billionaire’s smirk. 

Peter’s attention dropped to the two cards sitting on the table in front of him. He flipped the first open, writing season greetings to MJ and her family. He bit his bottom lip, deciding that it would be a little weird sending her a picture of himself and Morgan. He drew a little picture off to the side instead. He wrote MJ’s address and the return address on the envelope, before slipping it in and licking it closed. 

Ned’s card was a bit harder to write. He’s known Ned for years and years. Longer then he’d known the Stark family. He was overly proud of the family pictures, and managed to snatch a couple more of the four of them to slip in. Peter knew Ned’s mom would love to finally get some pictures of Peter and his new family to hang up. 

Peter thought it was weird, but Ned assured him that it was simply because Ned’s mother viewed him as her son as well. And then things made sense, since all the walls were lined with Ned and his siblings through all ages. 

He wrote everything needed on Ned’s envelope as well, grinning down at the two Christmas cards. His first two Christmas cards. 

“Finished?” Pepper asked, stacking all the envelopes she and Tony had made into a neat pile. Peter nodded, handing the two over. “Perfect, we can put them in the post this weekend then.” 

“Thanks,” Peter grinned at the two. They didn’t reply, but he did get smiles from them. He really hoped that they didn’t notice him snatch one of the Christmas cards and one of the pictures of him and Morgan from the table. And if he hid them in his dresser drawer, then so what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments appreciated <3  
Have a cute Christmas/ winter prompt you wanna see? Comment below! (or DM me on tumblr @ boww-tiez C:)  
Have a great day!


	4. Christmas Baking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this one today because my mom and I just made both gingerbread and sugar cookies like an hour ago! They were delicious. We every tried (and kind of failed) doing royal icing flooding. They tasts good though, and my brother will get a laugh out of them so whatever :P
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

“How many cups of flour?” Peter questioned. 

“Four,” Pepper answered as she situated Morgan in her highchair. 

“And sugar?” 

“Two.” 

Peter was beyond excited to be spending time with Pepper. He loved spending time with her, but she was really busy with running Tony’s company and taking care of Tony and Morgan. 

“What kinds of cookies are we making?” Peter questioned, he bounced on his heels, excited as he eyed the mixing bowl and array of ingredients in front of them. 

“Gingerbread, sugar cookies and peppermint drop cookies,” Pepper explained, dropping a few various fruits on Morgan’s highchair tray. “And maybe chocolate bark.” 

“Yum,” Peter grinned. He’d only tried one of those cookies, since gingerbread was everywhere around the holiday season. 

They were making sugar cookies first. Pepper read the recipe off the book she had in front of her and Peter gathered each item setting them on the counter beside the kitchen aid mixer, listening to Pepper’s instructions. 

“I don’t know if I’ve ever baked like this,” Peter mumbled to Pepper as he watched the kitchen aid beat the butter, sugar and eggs together, tilting his head to gage her reaction to his admission. Pepper paused in measuring out the flour that had been mentioned earlier, giving him a small smile. 

“Better late than never, right, Honey?” Pepper was working on the dry ingredients while Peter worked with the wet. 

“Right,” Peter grinned, “this is really fun though, I like baking with you-” he was cut off by Morgan hurling a grape at his head and giggling loudly, “and you too, Mor,” Peter laughed, running his fingers through his hair as he turned to look at the baby. 

“Morgan, we don’t throw things,” Pepper scolded, her lips curving into a small smile as the baby clapped her hands, not sorry at all. Peter laughed, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl with the rubber spatula. 

The dough was starting to come together, and it tasted delicious. 

“Stop it,” Pepper huffed with a laugh as Peter stuck his finger he’d just scraped along the inside of the bowl into his mouth. He laughed around his finger, almost choking on it (this made Pepper pat his back, and Morgan burst into giggles). 

When Peter could breathe again, they continued with their baking. 

“This will be so much fun when she’s old enough to help,” Pepper mumbled, casting a fond look over she shoulder to where Morgan was smashing a piece of strawberry into her tray. 

“She’ll be a great baker just like her mom!” Peter chirped, sending Pepper a beaming smile. Pepper scoffed, reaching over to gently push the teenager’s head away. 

“Did you add the vanilla?” Pepper asked instead of responding to Peter’s statement. 

“Mhm, one table spoon, right?” 

“Perfect,” Pepper agreed. 

They watched the kitchen aid mix everything together until the cookie dough looked right. 

“Maybe if we cut them out, Morgan can add the sprinkles?” Peter suggested, chancing a look back at the toddler who’d moved on to smearing banana into her tray. 

“That’s a great idea, Pete, how about you keep cutting and fill these trays while I go wipe the fruit off her hands?” 

“Alright, Pepper,” Peter grinned, flattening his palm on the top of a snowman shaped cookie cutter. Pepper continued glancing over her shoulder back at the teen as she wiped her daughter’s hands clean with a warm face cloth. By the time she’d managed to get Morgan fruit residue free, Peter had two trays filled with multiple different Christmas shapes. 

“We’re using these cutters for the ginger bread too, right?” Peter questioned, placing a pine tree cutout on the tray with the last remaining spot, “because I’d like to decorate some of these shapes with icing, if we can?” 

“Definitely,” Pepper smiled at the teen, “we can do whatever you want, Sweetie.” 

“Awesome! So, I grabbed these sprinkles, the red and green mostly, but I know Morgan likes pink and purple so I grabbed those- and the blue ones because blue’s the best colour-” 

“Why don’t we bring all the colours down, and the two of you can pick whatever colours you want?” Pepper suggested. Pepper watched the teen think it over before nodding in agreement and reaching into the cupboard to pull out the remaining sprinkles. 

Pepper sat Morgan on the counter, Peter stepping closer to make sure the baby was safe. She grabbed a stack of mini plastic bowls and dumped some of each colour of sprinkles into each little bowl. 

“Okay, how about Petey decorates one tray, and Morgan can decorate the other?” 

“Sure, Pepper,” 

Slowly the two trays of cookies blossomed into colours. Morgan tossed handfuls of the sprinkles onto the tray and Pepper tried her best to sweep up the ones that weren’t on any cookies so they wouldn’t burn. Peter took his time to cover each cookie with a few different colours, trying not to get the sprinkles on anything but the cookies. 

When he was finished his fingers were an interesting brown from all the colours mixing as he picked and chose his sprinkles. 

Both trays looked good, and Peter couldn’t help but be proud. 

“We did so good, Mor! Look at your work on this tray, definitely the next Picasso!” Peter stepped over to pull the toddler off the counter, nuzzling his nose against her cheek. She giggled at the praise, lifting her hands to grab handfuls of his hair. 

“Okay, okay,” Pepper laughed, “I’m going to put these in the oven, and then I’m going to put someone else down for a nap.” 

“But I’m not tired, Pepper,” Peter teased, to which Pepper laughed. 

“Very funny, Sweetie,” she huffed as she opened the oven and slid the trays in. “I trust that you won’t let these burn?” 

Peter shook his head with a lopsided smile. 

The teen watched as Pepper took Morgan into her arms, the toddler giving him a lazy wave over her mom’s shoulder. 

He cleaned the counters, skimmed through the next recipe and gathered what was needed for gingerbread. 

“Morgan is down, so it’s time to spend some one on one time with my favorite little guy.” Pepper grinned as she stepped up beside Peter at the counter. “I see you already have a head start?” 

“Yep!” Peter beamed, “wanted to jump right into it!” 

“You’re so much like Tony, it’s not even funny,” Pepper laughed. 

Together they worked through gingerbread and peppermint drop cookies. 

Peter had fun molding a couple gingerbread cookies _‘this one’s Iron Man,’ ‘I see, really building his ego up there, Petey.’_ He didn’t like the peppermint cookies too much, having never been a fan of mint. But everything else was amazing. He probably ate more cookie dough today then he had in his whole life leading up to this moment. 

“Chocolate bark?” Peter hadn’t heard of, or seen this before so he was curious. 

“Yep.” Pepper nodded, pulling out a bar of good name chocolate, “Tony ordered this from Switzerland,” Pepper rolled her eyes fondly, “Walmart chocolate would’ve worked, but if we don’t use this it’ll hurt his feelings.” 

“You know, I’m feeling really attacked right now.” Peter turned to grin at the man stood in the doorway, “I asked if you wanted good chocolate, and you said yes.” 

“I thought you meant from like a candy store around here or something, not a shipment from Switzerland!” 

“Hey, they have the best chocolate,” Tony crossed his arms across his chest, and then his eyes settled on Peter, “Right, Kiddo? Switzerland has the best chocolate. You can’t change my mind.” 

“We’re getting sidetracked,” Pepper huffed over Peter’s laughter. “Now that you’re here, you can assist us.” Pepper turned an accusing eye to her husband. 

“Sure,” Tony ducked his head in a nod, stepping up to brush his shoulder against the youngest’s. 

“Good. You get to melt it. I’m going to trust you with this, unless you think you can’t handle it?” 

“Pff.” Tony tilted his head at her, “I’ve got it, but what will little Petey here, do?” 

“He’ll help me with the toppings. How do dried cranberries and pecans sound?” 

“Yum!” Peter nodded, stepping towards Pepper to watch as she chopped the pecans. Tony worked on melting the chocolate in a double boiler. Peter busied himself with snacking on some of the dried cranberries from the bag. 

“See, regular chocolate just doesn’t melt the same,” Tony shook his head as he lifted the spatula and a drizzle of smooth chocolate cascaded off. “Switzerland.” 

Pepper shook her head at his antics as Peter laughed, dipping one of his cranberries into the drizzle. 

“Hey, you brat,” The man narrowed his eyes, but his lips tilted up in a small smile. 

“Don’t hey me,” Peter laughed as he stuck the treat in his mouth. 

“Okay, okay,” Pepper giggled, “let’s build this before someone starts throwing chocolate-” 

“Excuse you, this is Switzerland chocolate-” Peter cut the man off by smearing a finger of chocolate on the man’s cheek. 

“Oops,” Peter shrugged his shoulders as the man eyed him. Peter licked his finger with an innocent look. 

“Looks like you’ve got a little something right there,” Pepper leaned forward and licked Tony’s cheek, clearing the chocolate away. 

“I’d really like to be offended right now,” Tony said with a scarily even voice, “tag teaming is terrible, why do I talk to you two?” 

Peter laughed as he grabbed the pre-prepared pan off the table. Tony dumped his chocolate, licking his knuckle where some chocolate from the bowl had gotten on him. Pepper sprinkled her chopped pecans and Peter dropped some cranberries from the bag. 

“Now it just has to set for a couple hours.” Pepper grabbed the tray, placing it in the fridge. 

“Awh,” Peter pouted. 

“Hours?” Tony looked up in shock. “I’m an impatient man, Pep.” 

“Me too,” Peter grinned at Tony, who stared at the boy for a second before returning his sharp gaze to his wife. 

“Yeah, Pep, we’re impatient men.” He teased, ruffling Peter’s hair. 

“Well, as soon as we clean this up-” her eyes travelled around the mess of a kitchen, “they’ll be done. Let’s go boys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments greatly appreciated <3


	5. Visit to Mall Santa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You either love or hate mall Santa, there is no in between lol  
The idea of mall Santa is cute, but he stresses me out, ngl. Anyways~ do enjoy!

“I just don’t understand why we need to go see a mall Santa? I can buy Morgan her own Santa to come to the house and take pictures?” 

“It’s not the money, Tony,” Peter laughed, “it’s the memories. Mall Santa’s are where it’s at.” The man glanced at the boy through the rearview mirror, watching him closely; calculatingly, before looking towards his wife. 

“Do you have any idea what he just said?” 

“Hush,” Pepper shook her head with a fond smile. She smiled back at Peter, who beamed in return. 

The four were on their way to visit the mall Santa. Peter had insisted they take Morgan to see him and take a picture. It was one of the memories he held dearly, a photo of himself, maybe three years old, grinning widely and making grabby hands at the camera while perched in Santa’s lap. 

He wanted to share that with Morgan. 

It had been easy to talk Pepper into it; she’d thought the idea was cute. It was just Tony who was still having a problem with it. 

“I still don’t see it. Malls are gross, you know how many children have sat on that Santa’s lap?” The billionaire glanced at Peter in the rearview mirror, “how many have _peed_ on him?” 

“Tony,” Peter whined, leaning forward to pick up the stuffed toy Morgan had dropped to the floor. “You wanna go see mall Santa, don’t you, Mo? We won’t pee on Santa, will we?” 

“Ye!” Morgan squealed, taking the toy from Peter’s outstretched hand and smooshing her face in it. 

“That settles it,” Pepper decided, giving Tony a mocking expression, “three against one, Tones.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony snorted, “I just don’t see the point. What’s the point of having the money if I can’t buy my kids their own Santa Claus?” 

“Come on, it’s fun,” Peter laughed. 

“Fine,” the billionaire sighed, “if you want to bring our poor innocent baby girl who can’t consent to visit some germ-infested man in a suit of red and fake facial hair, you’re welcome to do it.” 

“Glad we’re on the same page,” Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony flashed Peter a dazzling smile in the rearview mirror to show he was kidding before finally pulling into the mall parking lot and finding a parking space towards the very back. 

The place was bursting with life as people pushed carts filled with goodies out the doors, shoppers hurried to try and get that last toy on sale and parents paraded children around and into their favorite stores. 

“Christmas is the worst time to be shopping-” 

“We're not shopping, we’re visiting Santa,” the teen reminded, then grinned as he was backed up by the toddler. If he couldn’t get the billionaire to say yes (and that wasn’t often) then Morgan surely could. 

“San-da, San-da!” 

“Yeah, Honey, we’ll go see Santa,” Pepper cooed back at the baby. 

The family of four got out of the car. Peter had dressed himself a little fancier then he usually would, since Pepper and Tony always looked like they were about to meet the president whenever they were outside of the Tower. 

He wore black slacks, new black and white converse shoes, a white dress shirt, red tie and a black sweater. He always felt out of place when he walked around with the family out in public in a sweatshirt and jeans. 

Pepper had dressed Morgan in a cute little red dress, that conveniently matched Peter’s tie. The billionaire looked flawless in his usual public attire which consisted of a three-piece-suit, and Pepper was wearing a nice dress. 

They were such a cute couple, and Morgan was the perfect baby. 

The cutest family Peter had ever seen, and the thought always made him smile. 

“Alright, mall Santa expert,” Tony grabbed Peter’s attention as they entered the mall, “lead the way.” 

“Gladly,” Peter gave them a grin, stealing Morgan from Pepper’s arms and walking towards where the signs pointed Santa Claus to be. Peter talked quietly to Morgan as he led his foster parents to the small fenced in area he always remembered. 

December always left the mall crowded as people hustled around to finish their shopping before crunch-time. 

Finally, after walking for a couple minutes, Peter grinned at the sight of their destination. 

“You’re kidding me, right?” Tony groaned when Peter led them up to the decorated white picket fence squared around the one and only man in the red suit. The line was long, as Peter remembered it being. He flashed a grin back at the couple before sidestepping into line, cooing at Morgan. 

Peter managed to keep Morgan distracted and busy while they stood in line. It was a solid half an hour wait, as Peter knew it would most likely be. Tony behind him looked bored, and Pepper was on her phone, probably answering emails. 

Finally, their turn came up and Peter walked forward, smiling widely at Santa Claus. The man’s attention shifted from the kid who’d just been on his lap, to Peter holding tightly onto a suddenly hesitant Morgan. 

“Hi, Santa!” he chirped, making his voice extra happy so Morgan wouldn’t be afraid. Some kids were just afraid of Santa, and with the whole ‘stranger danger’ thing parents instilled in their kids; it was understandable. 

“Well, hello, young man! Who might you be, and your little friend too?” 

“I’m Peter, and this is Morgan,” the teen explained, moving closer to the man. He turned slightly, so Morgan and Santa could see each other. Morgan’s grip on Peter’s shoulder tightened. 

There were people dressed as elves; taking the pictures and assisting children. Another was holding a bucket of small candy canes. “You wanna sit in Santa’s lap, Momo? Tell him what you want for Christmas!” Peter grinned, overly happy for the baby looking at him questioningly. 

Morgan nodded hesitantly, thumb in her mouth and chancing an anxious look back at her parents. Peter handed her over, and noted the exact moment Morgan looked like she was about to burst into tears; bottom lip wobbling and eyes tearing up. 

He was quick to lower down to her level, terrified she’d start crying. Morgan whined quietly as she reached out for him, eyes water. 

“Sh, it’s alright, Mor. He’s really nice,” Peter whispered to the upset toddler. 

“’etey!” Morgan cried out, making grabby hands at the teen. Peter bit his bottom lip, looking from Santa, to Morgan, then back to Tony and Pepper. Pepper gave him a little smile, and Tony, a teasing grin. 

“Well, Kiddo, go sit with her. She wants you,” Tony teased from his spot, his eyes going from Morgan to Peter. 

Peter looked back the man in the Santa suit, who was now holding Morgan out as a sort of offering. The teen took her back carefully, and she cuddled right into him, little face hiding in Peter’s neck. 

The Santa smiled, patting his lap invitingly. 

Peter flushed, chewing on his lip as his eyes dragged over everyone in the line. They fell on Pepper and Tony, watching from behind the gate, then to Morgan who was looking up at him with a little pout. 

He really didn’t want to sit in Santa’s lap. Didn’t think it was right for the mall Santa to have a teenager in his lap, but the man only prompted Peter again by patting his lap with both hands. 

Peter knew he had dragged everyone to the mall for a picture with Santa for Morgan, and he’d be sad if they left without one. So, if that meant he had to embarrass himself a little for it, well, he was prepared to do it. 

With a little exhale, and as much confidence as he could muster, Peter lowered himself into Santa’s lap, whispering an apology in the process. 

Santa was a sport about it, his arm wrapping around Peter’s waist to secure him and Morgan. Peter worked on adjusting Morgan so everyone could be seen, and trying to talk her into looking at the camera (Tony and Pepper called her name and tried to make her laugh as well). 

It didn’t take too long to get a picture, and Peter almost rolled his eyes at both Tony and Pepper’s phone held up, also taking pictures. After the picture, the elf with the candy cane bucket handed them each one, and before Peter could stop her, Morgan popped the plastic covered treat in her mouth. 

“And what do you both want for Christmas?” Santa asked with a laugh, smiling at Morgan. 

“A ‘arbie!” Morgan grinned around her candy cane. Peter smiled at her, working on unwrapping his candy cane. 

“A Barbie? Yes, yes. I’m sure you’ll get one this year. You’ve been a good girl, haven’t you?” 

“She’s been very good,” Peter grinned, eyes bright. He leaned down to press a kiss to Morgan’s cheek. In her moment of distraction, Peter stole the slobbery wrapped candy cane from her mouth and instead inserted his unwrapped one in its place. 

“And you?” Santa asked, gaze shifting to Peter, who was wiping slobber off the candy care so he could pocket it for Morgan to have later. 

Startled, Peter looked up to Tony and Pepper, both with soft smiles on their faces, then down to Morgan who had a string of slightly pink drool handing off her fingers. His eyes fell back to Santa, and he was sure he had a dopey little smile on his face, “I don’t want anything this year. I have all I want.” 

Santa tilted his head, a nod of understanding. 

“A nice young man you are. I’m certain you’re on my nice list.” 

“Thanks, Santa,” Peter smiled, finally standing up. He adjusted Morgan so she was settled on his hip. Peter still felt back for sitting on the man’s lap. He wasn’t as light at the majority of the kids in the line, and he also had Morgan’s added weight on his lap. He gave one last fleeting apology, as well as thanking the man before he stepped towards the exit. 

The toddler in his arms squealed happily, flipping around to give Santa a floppy wave, to which the man returned. Peter made it back to Tony and Pepper, and then the four of them were ushered out of what the mall had dubbed the small square of Christmas explosion, _Santa’s Workshop_. 

“Okay, I’ll admit,” Tony muttered to the group as Pepper took Morgan into her arms and Tony threw his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “that was better than I thought it would’ve been.” 

“See? Mall Santa is great,” Peter said with a small, fond smile. He’d show them his picture with the bearded man from when he was little, later. “I’ve always loved him.” 

Tony looked down in the photo print in his other hand, an adorable picture of both kids beaming at the camera. Peter’s arm curled protectively around his baby girl and a soft embarrassed flush on the teen’s cheeks. He’d get copies of this made, because one was getting hung in the penthouse, and one was definitely going down to the workshop. 

“Alright,” Tony laughed quietly to the boy, “you were right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments appreciated <3


	6. December Sniffles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is dedicated to my dear older brother who every year got to sit on the couch Christmas morning while opening presents because he was sick every year. With love, your forced to sit on the floor younger sibling. :3
> 
> Sickfic for the soul, my dear Iron!Dad friends.

As much as Peter loved Christmas, and basically the whole month of December, there was still one very important downfall to it all. 

Which, of course, was the temperature. As it dropped and rose over the days leading up the Christmas, Peter was always knocked off his feet in December, without fail. 

He had a terrible immune system. His mother used to say if was because he was born early. He’d always had health issues, year-round, and the time around Christmas wasn’t any different unfortunately. Each and every winter, usually right before or over Christmas, Peter would fall ill with the flu or a rather terrible cold that kept him bed ridden. 

It sucked. 

What didn’t help with this, was the fresh snowfall they’d had the day before. That awesome kind of snow that was just about slush and perfect for snowballs and snowmen building. So, he returned home late that evening, soaking wet but smiling brightly. His hands had been pale and prune-y after being in his soppy wet gloves for the afternoon. 

The fact that Pepper had dragged Peter into the penthouse by his jacket sleeve, forcing him to strip out of his soaking snow clothes, then proceeded to wrap him in blankets and settle him in front of the fireplace to warm up. 

He’d stared exasperated at Tony who was fighting a smile off his own face, slumped back into the couch and not bothering to help Peter. Morgan was in Tony’s lap, watching, but also not saying anything. In fact, the little traitor _giggled_ at him as Pepper fussed over him. 

Despite Pepper warming him up, and keeping him bundled all evening, he was still struck with a cold. 

That next morning, Peter woke with a wheeze, finding it difficult to get air in his lungs. He coughed himself up into a sitting position, having been dragged from his sleep by a pesky cough that was suddenly there. 

The room around him was hot, but he himself was incredibly cold, even under his covers. His face was burning, but his feet nearly icicles. 

In the next few minutes as Peter attempted to prepare himself for the day, his bedroom door was pulled open. Pepper and Tony liked to wake him up themselves, which he didn’t mind. It was better than being startled out of his sleep by the ringing of an alarm clock. 

“Mornin’ Pete, breakfast is ready.” It was Tony. Peter turned his head to look at the billionaire, groaning again before flopping backwards and pulling the cover over his head. He wasn’t a morning person, for sure, but he also usually wasn’t this bad. 

The man at his door snorted, rapping his knuckles against the doorframe before speaking again, “five minutes, bud.” And then he left to get Morgan. 

Peter rolled from his bed, feeling a bit dizzy as he pulled on a pair of sucks to try and warm up his poor frozen toes. It didn’t help much. He coughed into the crook of his elbow and finally stood up. The house was cold, freezing if you asked Peter. His arms wrapped around himself to try and contain his heat, but shivers shook his body anyways. 

He could already hear Tony talking away to Morgan in the kitchen. When Peter entered the room, Morgan was perched on Tony’s hip as the billionaire stirred a pot that looked like it contained oatmeal. 

Peter collapsed at the table with a sigh, casually brushing his nose against his sleeve. His head was pounding, and he was freezing, but at the same time his face felt like it was on fire. 

The teenager barely noticed as Tony slipped Morgan into her highchair. Then, a bowl of oatmeal was set down in front of him. One similar, but smaller and in a plastic bowl was set in front of Morgan, who happily dug into her breakfast. 

Peter glared down at his meal over his nose. He liked oatmeal, but he was not hungry. The toppings Tony had put on it melted into the oats below, but Peter didn’t bother touching it. Tony sat across from Peter at the table, his own bowl in front of himself. 

“What’s up with you?” Tony asked slowly, as he looked from Morgan, oatmeal smeared across her face, to the spoon untouched beside Peter’s bowl of equally untouched oatmeal. 

“Not hungry,” Peter shrugged, pushing the bowl back and crossing his arms on the table. He let his cheek fall onto his forearms and huffed, sniffling quietly. 

Tony went to speak, but Peter interrupted him with a hard cough, the teen just barely managing to contain it in his sleeves. It was painful, his lungs tensed as another bout of coughing shook Peter’s body. 

The billionaire winced at the teen, then stood to move around the table to where Peter was sitting slouched over. Peter blinked blearily at him, as the man’s hand settled across his forehead. Tony brushed Peter’s hair back, frowning to himself. 

“Back up to bed,” he insisted, “why didn’t you mention you were sick when I woke you up?” 

Peter shrugged again lifting his head lowly to halfheartedly mutter, “I’ve got school.” 

“Not today, you don’t.” Tony declared, trailing his fingers through Peter’s hair, “and depending on how you feel throughout the day and tonight, probably not tomorrow either, Kiddo. I’ll call the school. There’s no way you’re leaving the house with that fever, Bud.” 

Normally, Peter would be trying to pass himself off as fine. Telling the man that he was okay, and that he could go to school, but the teen knew, even if he could convince Tony to let him go, that his first period teacher would just send him right to the nurse's office to get his guardian to come pick him up. 

That would be a waste of everyone’s time. Plus, he really wanted to just curl up in his bed right now. 

Peter coughed again as he stood. He dragged his feet back up into his room, stopping by a linen closet to grab another warm blanket since he was freezing. He collapsed in his bed, barely managing to get the second blanket over his torso before shivering. 

He was alone for a bit, knowing Tony was finishing breakfast and probably getting Morgan settled somewhere. Peter didn’t want to get her sick before Christmas. 

When Tony did finally enter the room, he had the thermometer in one hand, and a bottle of water in the other. He frowned at Peter’s shivering frame. The teen’s cheeks were flushed, a strange comparison to the rest of his overly pale face. “Open.” 

With a hazy glance at the billionaire, he opened his mouth and the man slipped the thermometer in. Peter put it under his tongue and waited, eyes following Tony as he moved. 

“I called the school, I know you wanted to go, but I pulled you out for today and most likely tomorrow as well. I also called Pepper, and she said she hopes you feel better and that she’ll be home by lunch,” the billionaire talked as he unfolded the second blanket Peter had gotten and laid it out across the boy. He took a seat on the edge of the bed, pushing Peter’s hair back as he waited for the thermometer to beep. 

“Just about one-hundred and one degree,” Tony informed as he pulled the plastic from Peter’s mouth. The boy coughed with the loss, sniffling miserably. “Maybe the second blanket should come off?” 

“But’m cold,” Peter frowned. Tony petted Peter’s hair back some more, deep in thought. 

“Okay, okay,” he relented as Peter leaned into his touch, “but if that fever goes up any more, it’s off.” 

“Deal,” the teenager agreed, shutting his eyes. 

“Anything else we should be worried about? Throat, head?” 

“Head hurts, throats sore...” Peter coughed, then tried inhaling through his nose, which made a gross noise. 

“Cough and congested?” the billionaire gave Peter a small smile. The boy nodded, squeezing his eyes shut again. “Okay, I’ll go get you some Tylenol and tissues. Are you sure there’s nothing you want to eat?” 

Peter shook his head, voicing a hoarse ‘no’. 

When Tony came back, he had a bottle of Gatorade, tissues and a bottle of Tylenol. 

“Gotta keep you hydrated. Pepper said the electrolytes would help,” Tony informed, handing the bottle to Peter. He shook two pills from the bottle and handed those to Peter as well. “You’re off scot-free for breakfast, but you are going to eat some lunch. Pepper said so.” 

“Okay,” Peter whispered after swallowing the pills with a sip of Gatorade. It hurt to swallow. 

“Try and get some sleep, okay, Bud?” Tony gave Peter a smile, the boy was already half asleep, “hollar if you need me.” 

“Mhm.” 

\---- 

Peter woke up again to someone petting his hair back. He leaned unconsciously into the touch. His first thought was that it was Tony checking on him, but that wasn’t Tony’s voice. 

“Are you waking up?” Pepper’s soft voice questioned; she didn’t stop carding her fingers through his hair. Peter blinked his eyes open, then closed again. Everything was hazy still, and now his throat was hurting more. He coughed, trying not to cough on Pepper. 

“You’re’ome,” Peter whispered hoarsely, nuzzling his face towards her. 

“I am, baby,” Pepper agreed, “I made you some soup for lunch, if you’re hungry?” 

After a second’s thought, Peter nodded lightly. He wasn’t hungry, but he promised Tony he’d eat lunch. “’S time is it?” 

“A little after one,” Pepper carded her fingers one last time before standing up. “Come down when you’re ready, and wear those slippers you have but never wear.” Pepper pressed a kiss to his forehead, frowning before leaving the room. 

Peter stumbled shakily to his feet, coughing again and pulling the second blanket over his shoulders and wrapping up in the fuzzy texture. He slipped the slippers on, snorting to himself. He did never wear them, but his feet were really cold. Next, Peter blew his nose so he didn’t sound disgusting at the table. 

Morgan, Tony and Pepper were all at the table when he shuffled his way in. There was a bowl of chicken noodle soup in front of everyone. Morgan’s was more noodles, chicken and vegetables than broth though. Peter’s was mostly just the chicken broth, and Pepper and Tony both had normal bowls of soup. 

“How’re ya feelin, kiddo?” 

“Gross,” Peter huffed, sitting in front of his soup. He picked up the spoon, letting his head fall into his cupped hand which was being supported by an elbow on the table. Peter coughed a couple times while at the table, muffling every one into the blanket over his shoulders or sometimes into the bend of his arm. 

The soup tasted good, not that he could really taste anything, but he was sure it was delicious. Despite that fact, he really wasn’t hungry. He ate only a couple bites; some of the chicken, one or two of vegetables and a bit of the broth before he was pushing this meal away as well. 

It had felt kind of nice on his throat, but he really wasn’t hungry. 

He avoided even looking in Morgan’s direction, as though germs could magically be transferred via eye contact. 

“’etey otay?” Morgan’s small voice asked. He glanced over at her, to see her looking at him worriedly. Or, as worried as a two-year-old could look anyways. He managed a small smile, despite not being in much of a smiling mood. 

“’member, Squirt? Petey’s sick. That’s why he went for a really long nap today.” Tony reminded, “he‘s okay though, right, Petey?” 

“Yeah,” Peter sniffled, “I’m okay, Momo.” Morgan didn’t look convinced, but she returned to more or less smashing her noodles into the bowl with her spoon. 

Peter swallowed a sip of water from the glass beside his bowl, then looked back at Pepper and Tony. Peter stared at his bowl, biting his lip. 

“Do you wanna head back to your room, or hang out here?” Pepper asked him quietly. By the looks of it, everyone was finished eating, so Peter didn’t feel bad about leaving the table. 

“I don’t want Morgan to get sick,” Peter answered, glancing at the toddler. 

“It’s Morgan’s naptime,” Tony told Peter, reaching over to brush a noodle clinging to Morgan’s cheek away. 

Peter thought that information over for a second before deciding, “couch.” 

“Good choice,” Tony grinned. “C’mon, let’s you ‘an me head into the living room. We can watch a movie or something.” 

Peter stood to follow behind him, as Pepper took Morgan from her highchair to clean up and to be put down for an afternoon nap. Peter flopped onto the couch tiredly when he was close enough, drawing his legs up to his chest and muffling a couple hard coughs into the fabric of his pajama pants that was covering his knees. Tony patted his back through the coughing fit, and it kind of helped. 

Tony helped Peter cover himself in the blanket, then disappeared, only to resurface with Peter’s bottle of Gatorade from his room. It wasn’t until Tony plopped down beside Peter and pulled him into his side that Peter noticed the second bottle in his hands. 

“We’ve got some cold and flu medicine, if you want that. It might make you sleepy though,” Tony explained as he examined the bottle. Peter shrugged, coughing once again, then groaning. 

Tony measured a cap full for Peter, and Peter shot the horrible syrup back. He scowled as he handed the cap back. Cough syrup was disgusting. 

“Gross, I know, but it does help, Bub.” 

With the cough medicine settling, Peter curled into Tony’s side as the billionaire started one of the _Star Wars_ films. Peter was so out of it that he couldn’t even tell which one it was. The teen slowly let his eyes fall shut, not falling asleep, just sitting contently in the warmth of everything as the cold medicine finally quieted his symptoms. 

Tony’s arm was across his shoulders, holding him close to his own body. The man’s hand was settled on Peter's shoulder, and his thumb was rubbing lightly back and forth over the fuzzy blanket Peter was curled in. 

Peter didn’t blink his eyes open until a cool hand flattened on his forehead. He blinked his eyes open to see Pepper, frowning lightly once more. 

“I brought you some tea, baby. It’s got honey in it, so it’ll feel nice on your throat,” Pepper gave him a little smile as she held the mug out. It took Peter a second to wrestle his cold hands from the restraints of the blanket, but when he did, the warmth of the mug instantly warmed him. “Your fever hasn’t broken yet, so school tomorrow isn’t looking good.” 

“’s okay,” Peter rasped, sipping the tea and letting his cheek fall to Tony’s side. 

“Poor boy,” Pepper sympathized, running her fingers through his hair before sitting down beside Peter and pulling his feet into her lap so he was basically laying on both of them. Peter finished up his tea, it doing wonders on his throat. 

His eyes slipped closed, and he was content to just sleep in the safety of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, comments appreciated <3


	7. Christmas Tree Farm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things will probably be wrong in this update, since I have never in my life had a real pine Christmas tree. Author's family has dumb pets that will climb/eat the tree. :P A lot of this chapter is coming from those cliche Christmas movies... so, y'know, sorry in advance. 
> 
> Anyways, do enjoy!

The family of four were once again in the car. Today, they were on their way to pick out a real Christmas tree. Tony had been adamant about dressing the kids up in their snow suits and dragging everyone to an authentic Christmas tree farm, where you could cut down your own tree- just like he’d done with his parents growing up. 

It was quite a ride, considering they had to drive out of New York first and then a couple miles outside the city. But it was worth it for the memories, in Tony’s opinion. 

Peter was over the moon thrilled to be picking out a real tree. 

“I’ve never had anything but plastic,” the teen told the car, vibrating in his seat in his excitement, “no one ever wanted real trees, and I had no say in anything so each year we decorated one of those fake ones you get at Walmart and stuff.” 

“None of that here,” Tony glanced at the boy through the rear-view mirror, Peter’s smile instantly brightening his already bright mood. 

It made the billionaire happy to see Peter just as happy was he was about this. It was just such a fond memory, and something he wanted to share with his kids. The only reason Pepper had been against the real pine tree was that they drop pine and Morgan was still in that ‘put everything in her mouth’ faze. 

Luckily, Tony had Peter on his side, who begged Pepper with his irresistible puppy-eyes, promising to sweep under the tree every day. Pepper had agreed, thankfully. 

When they pulled into the practically snowed in Christmas tree parking lot, Tony’s grin was wide. 

“Who’s ready to pick the perfect tree?” 

“I am!” Peter beamed. “I can’t wait!” 

“Atta boy!” Tony laughed. “C’mon, everyone out. You get Morgan, Pep. I’ll get the sled and the axe out of the trunk.” 

It didn’t take long to get everything set up. The sled was loaded with Morgan, wrapped in a warm blanket. Tony decided to carry the axe, not wanting it anywhere near the delicate baby- and also not really wanting Peter’s hands on it. 

Pepper was fussing over the kids; adjusting Morgan’s little mittens and scarf and repeatedly pulling Peter’s hat down over his ears and then pulling his hood up. 

Tony just snorted at her. It was a little cold, but not cold enough for this much coddling. He still let her do as she pleased, grinning at Peter’s slight look of embarrassment as Pepper pressed a kiss to his cheek after tucking his scarf into his jacket. 

Pepper was pulling the sled, a little behind Peter and Tony who were looking for the perfect tree. 

“Peter Benjamin,” Pepper scolded, “put your gloves back on.” 

“Sorry!” Peter laughed, tugging the cotton mittens back on his hands. Peter had slipped them off to pick up some snow, not wanted the cotton to get wet. Tony snorted, then Pepper gave him a disapproving glare. 

“Relax, Honey,” Tony laughed, throwing his arm over Peter’s shoulders, “Pete’s got it covered, right, Kiddo?” 

“I’m fine, Pepper, really!” Peter chirped, leaning a little more into Tony. 

Pepper rolled her eyes, but the smile on her lips was more than enough to prove she wasn’t actually irritated at them. 

The group wondered around for a while, scoping out possible trees. Peter, as it turned out, was a picky little brat. He was legit looking for the perfect tree. 

“How’s ‘bout this one?” Tony questioned, pointing to a rather full looking tree. It was tall, but short enough to fit perfectly in the penthouse. 

Peter gave the tree an examination, humming to himself as he circled the tree. He opened his mouth to speak, but something else caught his attention first. His hand shot out, pointing towards a tree a little bit into the distance. 

“That one!” 

Tony and Pepper turned to look at the tree. It was a little shorter than the one Tony had picked out. It was a bit fuller and looked fluffier. There was a dusting of light snow covering the tree and Tony had to admit it was pretty darn perfect. 

“Tree!” Morgan gave Peter a bright smile. 

“Yeah, Momo! We’ve found a good one, haven’t we?” 

“Up!” Peter was quick to swoop the toddler up into his arms. Morgan turned in his arms to look at Tony who was walking towards the tree with the axe. 

“Are we gonna watch Daddy cut down the tree?” Peter cooed, “watch Daddy.” 

Morgan, Pepper and Peter all stood at a safe distance, watching Tony cut down the tree. It only took a couple minutes, and in no time, the tree was falling onto the snow dusted ground. 

Peter passed Morgan over to Pepper, then moved to help Tony with the tree. 

“It’s perfect,” Peter grinned, “I can’t wait to see it in the penthouse! Just imagine how pretty it’ll look all decorated!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony laughed, “now, you’re all muscle, right? You’ve gotta help me carry this guy back to the car since someone’s already riding shotgun in the sled.” 

Peter glanced back at where Morgan was once again cuddled into the blankets in the sled. Pepper was crouched down tucking her in tightly to block out the cool chill. 

“I’ve got it,” Peter promised, “can I carry from the bottom?” 

“Sure,” Tony shrugged, moving to grab the top of the tree securely. “Pepper, think you can manage the sled and the axe?” 

Pepper pulled the sled towards them, picking up the axe and waving them off. 

The trek back to the car was slower than the one to the tree. The tree, as perfect as it was, was a bit heavier than anticipated, and Peter kept losing his grip with the mittens on. They paused, only for Peter to strip of his mittens and stuff them into his pocket so he’d have more control over his grip. 

Pepper huffed her disapproval, shaking her head at the boys. 

Together, Peter and Tony strapped the tree to the top of the car as Morgan and Pepper wat in the car. It was on, so the heat would be on for the toddler. 

“Got it?” Tony asked as Peter pulled one of the ropes tight. 

“Yeuh,” Peter huffed as Tony rounded to knot the rope. When they finished securing the tree, Tony gave the boy a bright smile. 

“Good work, Pete. You’ve got a good eye for Christmas trees,” Peter flushed at the praise, “now, I’ll go pay. You better get in the car and warm up those pink cheeks before Pepper has both of our heads.” 

Peter grinned as Tony patted his shoulder. The teen slipped into the car, grinning at Pepper who turned to look at him. 

“Have fun?” She questioned with a tilt of her head. 

“You bet!” Peter beamed. He looked at Morgan, then back at Pepper, smiling wide at her. 

“Hands cold?” Pepper asked again. Peter shrugged. 

“A bit,” Peter responded, sheepishly rubbing his hands together and blowing his hot breath on them. “But worth it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment's appreciated <3


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